Page 6 - Seniors Today
P. 6
Cover Story - Essay
Mera
Bharat
Mahaan
Even as hate has gone mainstream, we have survived as a nation,
writes Vickram Sethi
“Freedom is not given, it is taken” is all speaking in Marathi and I helped them
famously said by Subhash Chandra get onto the compartment. Before you get
Bose. As India celebrates 75 years of to the compartment there’s a luggage rack
independence, the question we need to ask outside where large baggage’s are meant
ourselves is: are we truly free? Freedom is to be kept. I pointed out the rack to them
commonly understood as the ability to do and told them that they had to leave their
things by one’s own free will. Even after 75 baggage here. To which one of them asked
years, we still cling to the prejudices that whether I would be responsible if someone
the British exploited to divide us, ruled us takes away their luggage. I said no, but
for 200-odd years and then left us pitched the ticket collector will ask you to keep
against each other. We are even more your bags here. The issue was settled and
obsessed with caste, sub-caste, religion, I showed them their seats and we settled
gotra and every other divisive aspect of our down. I speak Marathi quite fluently and it
lives. And instead of taking lessons from was an easy conversation. After sometime
history for losing our freedom to the British, one of them asked me my name, to which
we still continue to fight amongst ourselves I replied Vickram. That was not enough,
based on all these divisive factors. he wanted to know my surname. I politely
I was traveling on the Eurostar from told him Anna ka shala vicharta ye majha
London to Paris, and there were a group aad naav (brother why do you want to
of Indians, Maharashtrians, that were also know my surname?) He persisted and a
on the same train. Now there is a certain woman in the group politely told him leave
method where you tug at the handle and the it why are you so insistent in knowing
door opens. There were three of them and his surname. It became unpleasant but
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